The present invention relates generally to cotton harvesters and more specifically to a method and apparatus for checking the spindle plane on a cotton harvester.
In a conventional cotton harvester, picker drums carry rotating spindles mounted in columns on vertical bars. The spindles remove cotton from the cotton plants, and rotating doffer columns doff the cotton from the spindles as the spindles pass under doffer pads. The vertical picker bars must be carefully adjusted so that the corresponding spindles on the bars are at the same height. If one picker bar is lower than the other, the spindles on that bar will pass too far below the doffer pads and will not doff properly. If one picker bar is higher than the others, the spindles on that bar will cause excessive wear on the doffer pads when the doffer column has been adjusted downwardly to doff the spindles on the other bars.
Typical of previously available devices for spindle plane adjustment is a dial indicator mounted on a bracket. A pair of holes in the bracket are placed over two of the upper spindles of the picker bar. A pin on the top of the dial indicator contacts a location on the center sheet of the picker unit housing above the picker drum. The indicator is set to a zero setting and removed from the spindles. Each bar is checked by placing the bracket over the spindles after the drum is revolved to the proper position.
Several problems exist with the previous devices and methods for the spindle plane adjustment. Each bar must be gauged at the same location on the center sheet since variations in readings occur for the same bar if the pin on the dial indicator changes location on the sheet. Any movement of the device affects the accuracy of the reading, and erroneous, non-repeatable measurement are often obtained which result in improper adjustment or unnecessary readjustment of the bar. Improper adjustment causes inefficient doffing and excessive doffer pad wear. Bars that are set correctly at the factory are often unnecessarily readjusted by the dealer or farmer resulting, added warranty costs as well as wasted time result simply because the presently available devices are not accurate and methods for spindle plane adjustment are not accurate or repeatable. The previous procedure is time-consuming because the indicator must be carefully repositioned on the spindles each time a different bar is gauged.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved device and method for spindle plane adjustment on a cotton harvester.
It is another object of the invention to provide a device and method for spindle plane adjustment which eliminates improper adjustment and unnecessary readjustment of the picker bars.
It is yet another object to provide an easily readable gauge for quickly making highly accurate spindle plane adjustments for increased doffing efficiency and reduced doffer pad wear. It is still another object to provide such a gauge which facilitates repeatable measurements by different operators of the device to thereby reduce unnecessary readjustment of the picker bars.
It is yet another object to provide a spindle plane gauge which does not have to be repositioned for each spindle bar and which has an indicator which can be placed at a location remote from the spindles so that the operator can easily determine relative spindle height.
A fluid cylinder is connected to a base plate. An arm is pivoted to the base plate and has a spindle engaging end adopted to ride over the top of a preselected lower spindle of each picker bar and a cylinder end which displaces the piston in the cylinder as the spindle engaging end moves up and down. A clear, narrow gauge tube having a diameter much less than the diameter of the fluid cylinder is connected by fluid line to the cylinder at opposite sides of the piston so that small movement of the piston caused by pivoting of the arm is translated into a relatively large change in level of the fluid in the tube. The tube is supported vertically on a graduated gauge base so that the change in the height of the spindle from one picker bar to the next can be read directly by the change in fluid column height on the gauge. A small change in spindle height translates into a relatively large change in the fluid column height on the gauge. The gauge may be placed in any convenient location for easy reading by the operator.
The base plate is secured to the picker unit housing and the picker bar drum is rotated until a spindle on one of the bars is under the arm of the gauge. An adjusting knob on the cylinder end of the pivoting arm is turned until the fluid in the gauge reaches a preselected position, preferrably at the zero location about midpoint on the graduated scale. The picker bar drum is then rotated a complete revolution, and a reading is taken at the spindle on each bar. The picker bars are shimmed to obtain as near zero deviation as possible. The operator does not have to reposition the device for each bar, and a complete check of spindle plane can be made quickly and easily.
These and other objects, features and advantages will become apparent to one skilled in the art from the following detailed description taken along with the drawings.